Rendezvous 2012, pitched@ full scale

Cultural Extravaganza

It was that time of the year when even the most studious lot of Indian Institute at Technology (IIT) put down their text books to indulge in some fun-filled activities. And it was worth it. The students had a ball at the annual cultural festival of IIT – Rendezvous.

They had it all – from Bollywood celebs to international music bands and fantastic dance performances to exciting events such as laser tag and paint ball.

The fest with a whopping budget of more than Rs 60 lakh saw huge participation of students from outside colleges for both competitive and non-competitive events such as Western Choreography Kaleidoscope, Coke Studio’s first outdoor performance, musical performances by Amaan Ali and Ayaan Ali on the classical night, Saaz and many more interesting shows.

The four-day festival was inaugurated by Prof. Shevgao­n­k­ar, director, IIT Delhi on October 19. Besides regular events like street plays, fashi­on shows, debates, art and photography events, what drew maximum footfalls were performances by a Hungarian and European dance troupes;  Coke Studio’s act with artistes Shilpa Rao, Advaita and Papon; and Mr. And Ms. Rendezvous, judged by Miss India 2012 Vanya Mishra.

While a celeb at college fests is common nowadays, Rendezvous was a star-studded event with the participation of Bollywood celebrities and singers. The highlight among them was cast of Chakravyuh – Esha Gupta, Arjun Rampal, Abhay Deol, Anjali Patil and director Prakash Jha, who had an informal interactive session with the students.

Then there was Aditya Kumar of Gangs of Wasseypur fame, who came as a special guest.

With participation of over 40 colleges, the choreography event was judged by Shiamak Dawar. 

Aalekh Sharan, a member of the PR team and III year Mechanical Engineering student, said, “This year, the focus was not on one but many celebs and international performers.

For instance, Tal Kravitz, Solstice Coil, Spanish Raga and The Riptide Movement were all present.”

The other initiatives to enhance the inclusiveness of campus community were a poetry recitation session called Loat Poat and Art Zone that displayed paintings and photographs by IITians besides entries from other colleges, and art workshops by renowned artists. In addition, there was a Fun Street with jugglers, palm readers, caricature artists, and folk artists.

Chinmay, who participated in the classical group singing competition, said, “We look forward to this fest. It was fabulous in every sense but I wish there were more food stalls.”